Patna: Political strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishore has achieved a landmark victory in the Bihar by-elections, delivering a major setback to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by wresting the Bankipur Assembly seat from the party after nearly 30 years.
Contesting on a Jan Suraj Party ticket, Kishore secured victory by a margin of more than 19,000 votes. The BJP candidate remained in second place for most of the counting process, underscoring the scale of the upset in what had long been considered one of the party's safest constituencies.
The Bankipur by-election carried significant political importance for the BJP. The seat was previously represented by the party's national general secretary, Nitin Nabin, and had been regarded as a BJP stronghold for three decades. The loss marks one of the party's biggest electoral setbacks in Bihar in recent years.
The result comes against the backdrop of widespread student-led protests over the alleged NEET paper leak controversy. Bihar emerged as one of the epicentres of the agitation, with many political observers suggesting that youth discontent may have influenced the outcome in Bankipur.
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The defeat is particularly striking given the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance's dominant performance in the Bihar Assembly elections less than a year ago, when the alliance won 202 of the state's 243 Assembly seats. In contrast, the newly formed Jan Suraj Party failed to open its account in that election.
Even before the official declaration of results, Bihar BJP president Sanjay Saraogi congratulated Prashant Kishore on his victory, acknowledging the changing political mood reflected in the by-election.
From Master Strategist to Electoral Winner
Prashant Kishore's victory marks a significant milestone in his transition from one of India's most influential political consultants to an elected politician.
Kishore first rose to national prominence as a strategist for Narendra Modi during his tenure as Gujarat chief minister, playing a key role in the BJP's successful 2014 Lok Sabha campaign.
He later switched sides to advise the JD(U)-RJD-Congress Mahagathbandhan during the 2015 Bihar Assembly elections, contributing to the alliance's victory over the BJP. In 2017, he managed Congress leader Captain Amarinder Singh's successful campaign in Punjab.
In 2018, Kishore joined the Janata Dal (United) and became its national vice-president before being expelled from the party in 2020 following differences with the leadership.
Returning to political consultancy, he helped engineer DMK leader M.K. Stalin's victory in the 2021 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections and played a crucial role in Mamata Banerjee's successful re-election campaign in West Bengal the same year.
In 2022, Kishore launched the Jan Suraj movement, embarking on a two-year grassroots outreach campaign across Bihar. Although the Jan Suraj Party contested the Bihar Assembly elections last year, Kishore himself did not enter the electoral fray. The Bankipur by-election marks his first major electoral victory as a candidate.
BJP Faces Another Setback in Madhya Pradesh
The BJP also suffered a defeat in Madhya Pradesh's Datia Assembly by-election, where the Congress candidate won by a margin of around 6,000 votes. Datia had previously been considered a stronghold of senior BJP leader Narottam Mishra, who himself lost the seat in the 2023 Assembly elections after serving three consecutive terms.
Looking Ahead
The by-election results have intensified the political spotlight on youth-centric issues, particularly after the protests over the alleged NEET paper leak. With Uttar Pradesh set to witness the next major round of electoral contests, political parties are expected to sharpen their focus on young voters, whose concerns appear to be increasingly shaping electoral outcomes.
The twin defeats in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh could prompt the BJP to reassess its electoral strategy ahead of upcoming state contests, while Prashant Kishore's breakthrough victory establishes him as a political force beyond his reputation as an election strategist.
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